A Critical Election in Ukraine

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

May 20, 2014

It is risky to see hopeful trends in the Ukrainian crisis. But a degree of calm seems to have settled over the rebellious southeast, which may bode well for the presidential election scheduled for Sunday. There are many things Moscow and its minions in Ukraine can still do to derail the election, of course, but President Vladimir Putin of Russia has refrained from publicly endorsing the “people’s republics” proclaimed by secessionists. His spokesman said on Monday that he had ordered Russian troops to pull back from the Ukrainian border, though NATO has not seen any change yet.

It is crucial for the vote to be accepted by all sides so Moscow can stop referring to the interim administration as the “illegitimate regime in Kiev,” and the elected president can begin to repair the enormous economic and social damage suffered by Ukraine in recent months. But the election itself will not solve Ukraine’s problems unless a new president can also address the deep corruption and cronyism that have been a hallmark of Ukrainian government since independence in 1991. The front-runner in the presidential race is Petro Poroshenko, a 48-year-old tycoon known as the Chocolate King for his candy empire. Mr. Poroshenko has political strengths: he was the first and only Ukrainian oligarch to join the protesters in Kiev that led to President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February; he favors a trade pact with the European Union; and he has been deeply involved in Ukrainian politics almost from the outset.

But the fact is, Mr. Poroshenko is also a member of the clique of very rich businessmen who have been at the root of the corruption of Ukrainian government. So are two of his rivals in the race — Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who made a fortune in energy deals, and Sergey Tigipko, a banker and member of Parliament.

Two other oligarchs, Rinat Akhmetov, the richest Ukrainian of them all, and Igor Kolomoisky, a banker who was recently appointed governor of Dnepropetrovsk Province, have recently become active in repelling secessionists in southeastern Ukraine — Mr. Akhmetov by sending his steel and mining workers to recover occupied buildings in Mariupol and Makeyevka, and Mr. Kolomoisky by offering bounties for arms and captured “terrorists.”

Like Russian oligarchs, the Ukrainian tycoons made their fortunes in the chaotic privatization of state assets that followed the collapse of Communist rule. Like the Russians, they hide much of their shady wealth abroad. But, in Ukraine, the oligarchs have been far more closely involved in politics, often changing sides as political winds shifted. Mr. Poroshenko, for example, was foreign minister under the West-leaning Viktor Yushchenko, and then economics minister under Mr. Yanukovych. So the question is whether an oligarch-president, most likely Mr. Poroshenko, will mean business as usual, or whether the new leader can really give Ukraine a clean start.

That cannot be ruled out. Ukraine’s tycoons have apparently become aware that coming under Kremlin control is not good for their export-dependent operations and that doing business with the West requires transparency. Besides, crisis does have a way of wiping the slate clean. Mr. Akhmetov’s employees — and there are nearly 300,000 of them — evidently heeded his warning that their livelihoods would be uncertain under Russian control.

A free and fair election on Sunday is the first step toward stability. The next will be a new president truly willing to break with the corruptions of the past.